Seismic surveying is used for identifying subterranean elements, such as hydrocarbon reservoirs, freshwater aquifers, gas injection zones, and so forth. In seismic surveying, seismic sources are placed at various locations on a land surface or sea floor, with the seismic sources activated to generate seismic waves directed into a subterranean structure.
The seismic waves generated by a seismic source travel into the subterranean structure, with a portion of the seismic waves reflected back to the surface for receipt by seismic receivers (e.g., geophones, accelerometers, etc.). These seismic receivers produce signals that represent detected seismic waves. Signals from the seismic receivers are processed to yield information about the content and characteristic of the subterranean structure.
A typical land-based seismic survey arrangement includes deploying an array of seismic receivers on the ground with the seismic receivers provided in an approximate grid formation. Most such survey arrangements have only seismic receivers oriented in the vertical direction. Some seismic surveys use multi-component seismic receivers or geophones that enable the measurement of an incoming wavefield (in velocity or acceleration) in three orthogonal directions (vertical z, horizontal inline x, and horizontal crossline y).